A Message to Garcia

Elbert Hubbard’s essay “A Message to Garcia” tells of the heroic journey of an Army soldier who must deliver a letter to a freedom fighter, and of the need for a similar spirit of determination in the workplace. The work first appeared as a magazine article in 1899 and became a pamphlet and book that reached millions of readers. “Carry a message to Garcia” (3) was a commonly used phrase in America during the first half of the 20th century.

“A Message to Garcia” is widely available on the Internet. A 2012 printed edition also contains additional essays by the author; the ebook version of that edition’s essay is the basis for this study guide.

Hubbard, a salesman-turned-publisher, produced the essay at his artist colony, Roycroft, in upstate New York. The short piece attracted the attention of the US Navy, the Boy Scouts, the New York Central Railroad, Wanamaker’s department store, and a number of other institutions and businesses, who distributed millions of copies to their members and customers. 

The essay opens with America’s President McKinley, who, during the war between the US and Spain, needs to get a message to freedom fighter Garcia, who is hidden deep within the jungles of Cuba (then a colony of Spain). An advisor to the President suggests, “There is a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can” (1).

Rowan takes possession of the letter, travels by sea to Cuba, and disappears into the jungle. Three weeks later, he reappears on the other side of the island, his mission a success. Rowan accomplishes his task without complaint and without asking for help. He seems driven by divine guidance: “By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze” (3). Young men don’t need an education as much as they need Rowan’s focused grit and determination. The lesson isn’t so much that Rowan is a hero but that life is filled with projects that require Rowan’s type of diligent action.

Business owners and others who direct groups of workers often are “appalled” by the inattention and incompetence of most assistants. Leaders sometimes must resort to bribery or threats to get their workers to cooperate. A simple request to a worker, for example to produce a short report about an encyclopedia article on the artist Correggio, might generate responses such as: “Where is the encyclopedia? Was I hired for that? Don’t you mean Bismarck?” (5). In the end, the employer will find it easier to do the assignment himself.

How can a better future, perhaps even Socialism, ever come to pass if workers persist in “moral stupidity” and laziness in the workplace? A search for a stenographer will turn up candidates, 90% of whom are unable to punctuate or spell correctly and think it unimportant to do so. Hubbard mentions an acquaintance who employs an accountant. This worker is quite competent at his skill but is unable to perform any other task. Given an errand to run, the accountant “might stop at four saloons on the way” (7), get drunk, and fail to complete the assignment. Often the unemployed are blamed on the bosses, but just as often those people, given jobs, make a hash of them and complain bitterly about their work. The author cites a man known to him who is unemployed, yet “No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular firebrand of discontent” (9), a “spiritual cripple” who often will refuse a task that he deems beneath him.

As much as we must sympathize with those who fall on hard times, we also ought to sympathize with those who run major enterprises. Business owners must listen to constant complaints about unfair treatment at work, but “Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do-wells to do intelligent work” (8). Employers tear their hair out looking for workers who even remotely resemble Rowan, with his dedication to getting the job done. Not all bosses are wicked, just as not all unemployed are good.

Someone who, “when given a letter for Garcia” (11), simply gets the job done without foolish questions or attempting to shirk, is “needed badly,” never needs to strike for higher wages, and always will have a job.